


Tell Me About Her

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Friendship, Mentioned River Song, Past Relationship(s), Questions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: One day, Nardole insists that Bill can't see the Doctor when she comes to her lesson. But as Bill begins to question Nardole about why the Doctor is upset, she discovers something she never knew about her professor before.
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor & Bill Potts, Twelfth Doctor & Nardole & Bill Potts, Twelfth Doctor/River Song
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	Tell Me About Her

**Author's Note:**

> The way this story came about was pretty cool. I had just finished reading the Twice Upon a Time novelisation when all of a sudden this scene popped into my head of Bill facing down Nardole and saying, "Tell me about her" in reference to River. Thus, this fic was born!

Bill Potts traversed the path to the Doctor’s office without even paying attention to where she was going. By now she knew the route better than the walk to her own flat.

She wondered what the Doctor would lecture her on today. Paradoxes? Past events (maybe with a front seat view)? Art? As much as she always tried to guess, she never quite anticipated what the subject matter would be once he started on something new.

Bill was so occupied with her thoughts that she nearly ran straight into Nardole as he stood at the entrance to the Doctor’s office. She stopped in her tracks only a couple inches shy of the funny little man.

“Woah!” she exclaimed, becoming aware of her surroundings all in a moment.

“Hello, Bill,” he said with a smile that was too wide to mean anything good.

Bill frowned. “Er…hi. Why are you blocking the doorway?”

“Blocking the doorway?” He looked around as if only just realising where he was. “I’m not blocking anything.”

“Yeah. You kind of are.” She looked past him, but the office seemed empty. “Where’s the Doctor?” She narrowed her gaze. “Did he go somewhere without me? Did he tell you to cover for him?”

Nardole’s smile became more strained. “Of course not!”

Bill sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well I’m getting in here, whether you’re here or not.” She pulled out her phone, noting it was one minute past six, and navigated to her favourite contacts. “I’ll just call him…”

“No!” Nardole lunged forward to snatch her phone and Bill took the opportunity to edge past him into the office. She quickly noted that the Doctor wasn’t there and turned toward the other corridor that branched off from the main room. However, Nardole beat her to it stood in her way, huffing and puffing.

“No further.” The firm set of his jaw and his insistent look told her he was serious.

Bill let her arms drop to her sides and let out an exasperated groan. “What’s going on?”

Nardole cast a furtive glance over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “He’s in one of his moods.”

“Like brooding, guitar-playing mood, or shouting at things kind of mood?” 

“He’s been doing a lot of…thinking.” Nardole relaxed, perhaps convinced that Bill wasn’t going to try anything. “He shouldn’t be disturbed.”

“So he’s sad, then.” Bill grinned. “Maybe I can cheer him up.”

Nardole shook his head. “Nothing helps when he’s thinking about her.” He snapped his mouth shut as if he realised he had said too much.

 _Her._ Bill circled behind the Doctor’s desk and leaned her arms on the back of his chair. She considered taking a seat in it, but somehow it didn’t seem right for anyone besides him to inhabit it. Besides, she still had a view of what she wanted to see.

She had noticed the two pictures on the Doctor’s desk before, but he had refused to say anything about them. Now, she wondered which one of the two women was occupying his thoughts.

“Tell me about her,” Bill said, thinking Nardole might give more away if she pretended like she knew more than she actually did.

He blinked. “What?”

Bill nodded at the photographs. “Tell me about her. The Doctor’s avoided the subject every time I’ve asked.”

Nardole came to stand beside her. He sighed, staring at the photo of the woman with curly hair and a smirk. “She was…” He chuckled. “Well, she was indescribable, really.”

 _Was._ “She’s gone, then?”

“Long gone. She died a very long time ago, but the Doctor’s never gotten over it. Think about it: he has all of time and space right there in that box, but he can’t go back and save her. Well, save her more than he already did.”

“Why not?”

Nardole turned to her with an incredulous look. “Haven’t you learned anything from the Doctor? Time is sensitive, Miss Potts. River Song’s death is a fixed point in time, one that the Doctor will never be able to change.”

Bill smiled, despite the tragic words. She had a name: _River Song._

Nardole swore under his breath as he no doubt realised he was only giving her what she wanted. “Conclusion,” he added quickly, “the Doctor shouldn’t be disturbed while he’s mourning his dead wife.”

Bill’s mouth dropped open. “His _what?”_

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing a second chapter where Bill asks the Doctor about River, but it kinda got too mushy for the Doctor. We'll see if I can figure out a way to make it work!


End file.
